There were 11,406 emergency room visits associated with synthetic marijuana in 2010—75 percent were among the ages of 12-29.
Synthetic marijuana currently holds second place in teenage popularity behind marijuana. Researchers claim the allure is the ill-perceived safety and legality of synthetic marijuana as compared to other drugs, the National Institute on Drug Abuse said in 2013.
Soon after the 2011 FDA ban of synthetic pot, a DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart told Gothamist that "young people are being harmed when they smoke these dangerous ‘fake pot’ products and wrongly equate the products’ ‘legal’ retail availability with being ‘safe.'"
A Think Progress report explains that the use of synthetic marijuana decreased after 2011 in response to health officials warning consumers. Despite of the notice, the drug maintained its relevance amongst young adults, with one in 20 high school students using the drug in 2014, one in 30 during 2013.
Males make up...

[caption id="attachment_3332" align="alignright" width="300"] ScienceDaily (Aug. 27, 2012) — The persistent, dependent use of marijuana before age 18 has been shown to cause lasting harm to a person's intelligence, attention and memory, according to an international research team.
ScienceDaily (Aug. 27, 2012) — The persistent, dependent use of marijuana before age 18 has been shown to cause lasting harm to a person's intelligence, attention and memory, according to an international research team.
Among a long-range study cohort of more than 1,000 New Zealanders, individuals who started using cannabis in adolescence and used it for years afterward showed an average decline in IQ of 8 points when their age 13 and age 38 IQ tests were compared. Quitting pot did not appear to reverse the loss either, said lead researcher Madeline Meier, a post-doctoral researcher at Duke University. The results appear online Aug. 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of...

Witnesses described the 17-year-old boy as "shaking, growling, foaming at the mouth." According to police reports, Elijah Stai was at a McDonald's with his friend when he began to feel ill. Soon after, he "started to smash his head against the ground" and began acting "possessed," according to a witness. Two hours later, he had stopped breathing.
The Grand Forks, North Dakota teenager's fatal overdose has been blamed on a drug called 2C-I. The night before Stai's overdose, another area teen, Christian Bjerk, 18, was found face down on a sidewalk. His death was also linked to the drug.
2C-I--known by its eerie street name "Smiles"--has become a serious problem in the Grand Forks area, according to local police. Overdoses of the drug have also be reported in Indiana and Minnesota. But if the internet is any indication, Smiles is on the rise all over the country.
DEA cracks down on...

By Matthew Hendley
If you haven't heard a story recently about a naked person high on the chemicals known as "bath salts," you have not been paying attention.
Thanks to 23-year-old Sean-Paul Branscome, the Tempe Police Department is holding a press conference right now to warn the public about the dangers of bath salts.
That's because police say Brascome, 23, was slamming himself against walls while pacing on a sidewalk, before he got naked and went jogging through a neighborhood.
He would eventually tell police that he had ingested bath salts.
According to Tempe PD, the call came in Sunday morning about a man "walking up and down the sidewalk and throwing himself against walls" near Country Club Way and Guadalupe Road.
While police were still on the phone with whoever called, Brascome got rid of his clothes and started running around.
The cops set up a perimeter to catch him,...

13 Sobering Facts About Teen Substance Abuse
A new report finds that 76 percent of high school students have used tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs, and one-fifth of them may be addicted. These alarming figures highlight the urgent need for parents and communities to help troubled teens.
Teen substance use is an epidemic of greater proportions than depression, bullying, and obesity, according to a new report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University in New York City. CASA interviewed more than 2,500 high school students, parents, and school personnel, analyzed thousands of studies, and interviewed 50 leading experts in a broad range of fields to produce the comprehensive report, which unearthed some shocking statistics.
Among the findings: While the percentage of teens who smoke, drink, or use illegal drugs has declined since 1999, the number of youths who still do so is dangerously high....

One in eight older U.S. teenagers has used powerful painkiller drugs without prescriptions, and many of them start misusing the pills at age 16 or 17, earlier than was previously assumed, according to new research released on Monday. The findings published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine are based on two national surveys that asked teenagers about their recent or lifetime use of prescription painkillers, which include highly addictive drugs such as oxycontin and codeine. For the full study, see: http://bit.ly/pD1ZHL Both medical and recreational use of such opioid drugs has increased across the United States over the last two decades, as have deaths due to painkiller overdoses. The new findings suggest that educational programs on the dangers of misusing painkillers should start earlier in high school, researchers said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 14,800 Americans died of an opioid overdose in 2008 - three...

Ninety percent of American high school students report that some of their classmates are using illicit drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, during the school day, a new survey found.
When asked to estimate how many were involved, these teens reported that about 17 percent of students -- roughly 2.8 million -- are abusing drugs during the school day, according to the survey.
"The findings are alarming but not surprising," said Bruce Goldman, director of substance abuse services at Zucker Hillside Hospital, in Glen Oaks, N.Y. "We know that teens abuse alcohol, cannabis, prescription medications. It makes sense that they do it at school where they congregate with their peers.
Goldman was not involved with the survey, which was released Wednesday by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASAColumbia), in New York City.
The survey is a timely one, coming out soon after a U.S. government study...

Cigarette smoking is out but pot use is in among the nation's teenagers, who also report a higher use of prescription painkillers and a waning perception about the risk of illicit drugs, a federal study on students has found.
As more states move to approve medical marijuana, and pot legalization and decriminalization become more mainstream in the national discussion, teens seem more accepting of pot use, according to a study released Monday by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
The national survey, "Monitoring the Future," was conducted by the University of Michigan and queried 47,097 students in the eighth, 10th and 12th grades.
It found that one-fifth of seniors—20.6 percent—reported using marijuana in the previous month, up from 18.3 percent in 2006. High school sophomores' pot smoking rose from 13.8 percent in 2008 to 15.9 percent this year, statistics that researchers said should capture the nation's attention.
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The number of Americans who used illegal drugs or abused prescription medications rose last year to reach its highest level since 2002, a survey showed.
Nearly 22 million Americans aged 12 and older used illegal drugs in 2009, a rise of 9 percent from 2008, the survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) found.
Some 7 million Americans older than 12 took prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons. The bulk of the abuse of prescription medications involved painkillers, which some 5.3 million Americans used off-label last year — a rise of 20 percent from 2002.
Among teens, the rate of nonmedical prescription painkiller use rose 17 percent year on the year, with most youngsters saying they got the meds from friends, family, or an unsecured medicine cabinet.
The rise in the use of illegal drugs was driven in large part by an increase...

by Rachel on July 24, 2012
Have questions about addictions and treatment? Call LVH @ 1-800-884-1727 24/7.
President Obama signed the Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 2012 placing synthetic compounds found in synthetic marijuana (spice, K-2), synthetic stimulants (bath salts) and hallucinogens under the Schedule I of Controlled Substances Act. When a drug is classified as Schedule I, it means that the drug has no medical use or purpose and should never be consumed. While under the influence of synthetic drugs people are committing ungodly acts and are in desperate need for help. Under this new Act, insurance companies may have to adjust policies to reflect whether or not to pay for bath salt and spice addicts to go to drug rehab.
Synthetic drug compounds, when ingested, cause devastating psychological and physical damage. Addicts intoxicated with bath salts and/or spice need medical attention and addiction treatment to eliminate use....